Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-12-03

HOTrlDlt ana wicket enough, Out ne cannot
be blamed too much, and be sure his sin
will find him out. The temptress who
drew him into evil was more than human,
and her beauty was greater than the love
illness Of the daughters of men.
| looked up again, and now her perfect
form lay in his arms, and her lips were
pressed against his own; and thus, with
the corpse of his dead love for an altar, did
Leo Nincey plight his troth to her red
handed murderess-plighted it forever and
n day. For those who sell themselves into
a like dominion, paying down the price OF
their W honor, and throwing their soul
into the balance to sink the scale to the
level of their lustS, can hope for no deliv-
erance here or hereafter. AS they nave
sown, SO shall they reap, and reap even
when the poppy flowers of passion have
withered in their hands, and their harvest
is but bitter tares, garnered in safety.
Suddenly, with a snake-like motion, she
seemed to slip from his embrace, and then
again broke out into her low laugh of
moCkery.
Did | not :ell thee that within n LITTLE
space thou wouldst creep TO my knee, oh.
Kallikrates. And surely the space has not
been a great onct'
Leo groaned in shame md misery; for
though he was overcome and stricken
down, he was not SO lost rs TO be unaware
of the depth OF the degradation to which
he had sunk. On the contrary, his better
nature rose up in arms against his fallen
self, as | saw clearly enough later on.
Ayesha laughed again, and then quickly
yelled herself, and made "A sign to the girl
mute who had been watching the whole
scene with curious, startled eyes. The
girl left and presently returned, followed
by two male mutcs, TO whom the queen
made another sign. Thereon they all three
seized the body of poor Ustanc by the arms,
and dragged it heavily down the cavern
and away through the curtains at the end.
Leo watched il Tor a little while, and then
covered his eyes with his hands, and il, too,
10 our excited fancy, seemed to watch lis
as it went.
"There passes the dead past said Aye
she, solemnly, as the curtains shook and
fell back into their places, when the ghast-
~ procession had vanished behind them;
and then, with one of those extraordinary
transitions of which have already spoken,
she again threw of her veil, and broke out
into "A kind of pp0n of triumph or epitha-
lamium. which, wild and beautiful as it
was, il exceedingly difficult to render into
English. 1t was divided into two parts
one descriptive or de1inatory, and the other
persOnal-and, as nearly as | can remem.
Der, ran as follows:
Love is like a flower in the desert.
1t is like the alu of Arabia that blooms but
once and dies; it blooms in the salt emptiness
of life, and the brightness of its beauty il set
upon the waste rs II star is set upon "A storm.
1t hath the sun above that is the spirit, and
about IT blows the air of its own divinity.
At the cchoing of II step, Love blooms, | say;
] say Love blooms, and bends her beauty down
20 him who passeth by.
lie p%lucketh it, yea, he p~lucketh the red cup
that Is full of honey, and bcarcth il away
away across the d~esort-away till the flower
be withcred-away till the desert be done.
There is only one perfect flower in the vii.
dcrneSs OF life.
That flower is Love!
There Is only one fixed star in the midst of
our wandering.
That star is love!
There is only one hope in our dcspairing
night.
All else ia false. All else is shadow moving
upon water. All else is wind and vanity.
"ho shall say what Is the weight or the
measure of Love?
1t is born of the flesh. it dwelleth in the
spirit. From each does it draw its comfort.
For beauty 1t is as n star.
Many are its shapes, hut ali arc beautiful,
and none know where the star rose, or the hor-
ZION where II snail set.
Then turning to Leo, and laying her
hand upon his shoulder, she went on in n
fuller and more triumphant tone, and in
balanced sentences that gradually swellcd
from idealized prose into pure and majes-
tic verse:
Long have ! loved thee, oh, my love; yet has
my love not lcssencd.
Long have ! waited for thee, and behold my
reward is at hands here.
Far away ] saw thee once, and thou vast
taken from me.
Then in Il grave sOwcd | the seed OF patience,
and shonc upon ii with the sun of hope, and
watercd ii with tears of repentance, and
brcathed on it with the breath OF my knowl-
edge. And now, 10! ii has sprung up and
borne fruit. Lo! out of the grave hath il
sprung. Yes, from among the dry bones and
ashes of the dead.
| have waited, and my reward is with me.
! have overcome Death, and Death hath
brought back to me him that was dead.
Therefore do ] rejoice, Tor fair is the future.
Green are the paths that we shall tread across
the everlasting meadows.
The hour is at hand. Night hath fed away
into the valleys.
The dawn kisseth the mountain tops.
Soft shall we lie, my love, and easy shall W.
go.
Crowned shall we be with the diadem of
kings.
worshiping and wonder struck all peoples of
the world.
Blinded shau they fan before our beauty and
From time unto times shall our greatness
thunder on.
Rolling like a chariot through the dust OF
endless days.
Laughing shall we speed in our victory and
pOmp.
Laughing like the Daylight as he leaps along
the hills.
Onward, still triumphant, to u triumph ever
new.
Onward, I'm our power, to a power unattained!
inward, never weary, clad with splendor fi
a robe!
Till accomplished be our fate, and the night
ID rushing down.
She paused in her strange and most
thrilling allegorical chant, Of which ! am,
unfortunately, only able To give the bur
den, and that feebly enough, and then said:
"Perchance thou dost not believe my
word, neutrality-suspicious. thou think
est that | do delude thee, and that | have
not lived these many years, and that thou
hast not been born again 10 me. Now will
! SHOW thee, and thee also, my Holly, who
dOst stand staring there Us though of q
truth thou hadst taken root in this unkind-
iy soil. Bear each one Of you a lamp, and
follow after me whittier | shall lead ye.'
Without pausing to think-indeed, speak
ing for myself, | had almost abandoned
the function in circumstance under which
To think seemed absolutely useless, since
thought fell hourly helpless against a black
wall Of wonder-we took the lamps and
followed her. Going to the end of her
~ - H. r,.r,l .-,f,s, a,AI ,a